


Where Hearts Find Peace

by angiembabe



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 23:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16376753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angiembabe/pseuds/angiembabe
Summary: Set after DSOD. Returning from visiting the afterlife, Seto Kaiba is still struggling. Sensing his brother is reflective, Mokuba suggests he goes and talks to Pegasus, who is still struggling to find a purpose without Cyndia/Cecelia. Seto is reluctant, but goes to the island, and after a few drinks, offers to take him to the afterlife for a reunion with his lost wife.Pegasus is excited but does have some doubts. But his doubts are not enough to stop him accepting the offer.Written as part of a writing exchange on Tumblr.





	1. Part one

**Author's Note:**

> Initially posted on fanfiction, this story was written as part of a writing trade on Tumblr. This wonderful idea was given to me by Bellamy Taft, and I sincerely hope that I have done it justice. 
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of the characters in this story.

An unfamiliar feeling of disquiet was weighing heavily on Seto Kaiba's heart. It had only been a few days, but since returning from Atem's afterlife he had started to realise that there was something missing in his life.

His victory over the Pharaoh had been played out in his head over and over until he was certain that he would win. Yet he had still fallen short of taking the crown he felt should be his.

But he no longer cared.

For although it had not been the crushing defeat he had hoped he would be inflicting on the Pharaoh, he had learned a truth he had always denied about the origins of Duel Monsters.

After making his intimidating grand entrance, he had been forced to concede to Atem's demands that they duel using diadanks. Apparently, he did not own a duel disk in the afterlife – a fact Seto had overlooked!

Their battle had taken place in its truest form, using large slabs of stone onto which they summoned Ka, using only their willpower and the diadanks on their wrists. It had been exactly the sort of battle Seto had imagined but never truly thought to be a reality.

Of course, It had ended up being another of the Pharaohs' annoying 'lessons' about why he should understand the heart of the cards!

And he did.

But he still found himself conflicted in wanting to deny it.

"A mortal man should not enter the afterlife and not be prepared for it to have a profound effect on him." That had been what Priest Set – his counterpart – had told him.

Meeting his own 'other self' and seeing how content he was to give the role of Pharaoh back to his cousin, had also given him food for thought.

At every given opportunity – which was not often with his schedule – he would find himself reflecting on his life and how he had clawed his way from an orphaned child into the most powerful man in the world.

But what was it all for?

As powerful as he was, he was unable to answer that question. But there was one question in his mind he was able to answer: if he had never met Yugi and the Pharaoh, he would not have been compelled to push himself to achieve such brilliance.

And brilliant he was!

Using the knowledge and the power he had taken from the Plana, he had created technology that unlocked the laws of physics and now made it possible to travel between dimensions and do anything he wanted. could rule the world if he wanted to. But he still could not beat and humiliate the Pharaoh – or Yugi for that matter.

He frowned over his bowl of nasty chocolate flavoured cereal: why on earth did he let Mokuba talk him into eating this muck? It had the same texture as the packaging used to protect the duel disks during transit.

From his seat at the opposite end of the table, Mokuba slurped a mouthful of his choco puffs and looked up at his big brother with a frown. He was worried about him. "Is everything okay Seto? Only..."

Seto looked up and interrupted him before he had chance to go into one of his lectures about 'getting more fresh air and more sleep'. "This stuff is like sugar coated polystyrene."

Mokuba knew that insulting his younger brother's favourite cereal was Seto's way of deflecting what was really troubling him. "But Seto! We need to eat as many boxes of these as we can so I can collect the little Duel Monster toys from inside," Mokuba pouted.

Seto stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Mokuba! If you want the toys, I will buy you the company that makes them! Anything so that we do not have to eat this stuff!" He allowed the spoonful of now soggy beige slop, to drop off his spoon back into the bowl of light brown milk. He let out a rather frustrated sigh.

"That's always your solution Seto! If we want something, we just buy it, or we take it by force. But sometimes it's fun to collect things in the same way ordinary people do – even if it is just a piece of tat from a cereal box!" He studied the way his older brother snorted dismissively at the suggestion. Had Seto really become so detached from the normal world, that he had forgotten what it was like to get excited about the small, simple things in life? "Seto..." he began, with a slight hesitancy. "What's wrong? Only, you've been so distant since you came back... You won't even tell me what happened while you were there." He looked down at his cereal and stirred the now soggy sludge in his bowl. Suddenly, his appetite had gone. "Did you beat the Pharaoh?"

Seto shrugged. "My plan was to utterly defeat and humiliate him in front of his adoring public. I thought that by beating him, I would satisfy the burning thirst for revenge that I have held since held since the humiliation of Death-T. But instead, it meant nothing to me."

"So, you did beat him?!" Mokuba was concerned. If his brother did beat Atem, why wasn't he happy about it?

"I didn't say that!" Seto snapped, immediately regretting being cruel to the one person that actually loved him. "But he did show me how they duelled back in his time. Did you know that the monsters were Ka that were forcibly removed from their human hosts, by priests wielding the Millennium items?"

Makuba shook his head and looked appalled. "What happened to them?"

"The people or the Ka?" He answered blandly.

"Both."

"Well, I presume the people they came from, either died or were left without any personality. But what was more interesting, is that Pegasus knew all this when he designed Duel Monsters. I know I always dismissed what Yugi said as mumbo jumbo, but deep down, I always knew..."

"I hate to say I told you Yugi was on to something, but..."

"Yes, okay Mokuba. No need to rub salt into an open wound."

"Sorry," said Mokuba, quietly. "But please... what's really worrying you?"

Seto sipped his coffee and swallowed, relishing the strong black liquid as it coated his throat and took away the taste of the cereal.

"I believe everything bad that happened to us growing up, was some sick joke, planned by the Egyptian Gods three millennia ago. Yugi, myself, Bakura, Pegasus, the Ishtars and even the Pharaoh, were all pawns in a game. I honestly believed that if I beat the Pharaoh, I would feel a sense of closure. Unfortunately, I lost. But rather than gloat as I would have done in his position, he showed me his hospitality and offered to teach me some of the other games he grew up with. I won some and he won some, and in the end it no longer mattered which one of us won, because we were... we were enjoying ourselves." He paused for a moment to gauge Mokuba's reaction, which was one of slight disbelief. He continued. "Anyway, rather than feel a sense of closure, I have returned with a feeling that I am missing out on something. It's hard to explain, but it's made me think I should be doing more."

Mokuba was thoughtful for a moment. "Why don't you go and talk to Pegasus?"

"What?!" Seto gasped. He hated Pegasus for what he had done in the past and went out of his way to avoid him whenever he tried to call for one of his 'friendly' chats. Why would he want to talk to that bastard?!

"I know you refuse to speak to him, but... well, I spoke to him and he's truly sorry for what he did. It wasn't his fault. He says his mind was warped by the influence of the Millennium Eye. And I believe him."

Seto grunted derisively. "If I had one thousand Yen for every time someone has used the Millennium Items as an excuse for trying to kill someone, I would be even richer."

"Didn't we try to kill Yugi? And he's forgiven us... I think!"

"That was different."

"In what way? Maybe if you reached out to Pegasus, you might both find a way to overcome your problems. I mean, you're both very similar in many ways."

At that suggestion, Seto banged his fist on the table. "I'm nothing like Pegasus! I'm not a one eyed reclusive freak, who spends his time moping around on his own island, in a castle, wishing he could have his dead woman back!"

Makuba glared at him. "That's a cruel thing to say! And I think you're exactly like him. You hide in your room for days on end, working on mysterious projects, and you're in love with your Blue Eyes White Dragon because she was once a real live woman." When Seto shot in an angry glare, he shrunk back a little.

However, his harsh words had triggered an energy inside Seto, that had not been there a few moments ago. Maybe his words were getting through to his brother.

Seto suddenly tapped the communicator device on his collar. "Isono! Ensure my Blue Eyes jet is fuelled. I'm going out."

:::::::::::

A lonely man stood on the turret of his castle. From where he stood, he could survey his entire kingdom. He had once thought of this place as a beautiful paradise – a sanctuary that would ring with love and laughter. But now it was just a place of self enforced exile.

The dream he and his beloved Cecelia once had of turning the castle into a luxury destination for artists to come and draw upon the inspiration to paint masterpieces under his tutelage, was long faded.

The laughter of the children they might have had would never fill these walls with joy.

Why he stayed here, he would never know. But it was better than being part of the outside world, where children would point and grown-ups would stare at his eye patch, knowing that underneath was a hole where his eye should be. The hole that reminded him of what he had done.

He still wished he could blame Yugi Boy for his situation, or maybe that cursed boy with the Millennium Ring, who actually stole his Millennium Eye. But deep down, he knew that they were as much pawns in the game as he had been.

He sighed, and turned back to his painting. Why did every painting make him think of Cecelia?

Scowling, he picked up the tube of dark brown paint and squeezed it onto the canvas, before taking his brush and angrily scraping harsh brush strokes across the canvas to form a dead, barren landscape.

The sound of a sonic boom in the distance startled him. Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, he looked out to the horizon to see a military style jet coming towards his island at great speed. The jet shot overheat, less than one hundred feet above the turret on which he was standing, before banking sharply and turning back towards him.

He instantly recognised the distinctive dragon shape of the jet. "Kaiba Boy..." he sighed. He was always such a drama queen with his flamboyant entrances.

The jet came in lower and lined itself up over the helipad. The sound was deafening and Pegasus had to shield his ears. It then deployed it's vertical thrust, and considering its power landed quite softly, before shutting down to once again restore peace and tranquillity to Pegasus' remote tropical island.

By the time Pegasus made it down to greet him, Seto was already being met by Croquet.

"My dear Kaiba Boy! You always decline my invitations to visit. For what do I owe this pleasure?"

Pegasus might be a recluse, but he still had spies and knew full well that Seto had found the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, and had nearly caused a catastrophic disaster while trying to resurrect Atem. He also knew that Seto had been away testing some sort of new technology, but as of yet, had not been able to find out what that technology was. But he had his suspicions.

"Cut the smarmy act Pegasus, I didn't come here to play best friends. I'm here on business."

"Wonderful!" Pegasus clapped his hands together. "What business have you in mind?"

Seto scowled. He had not thought about that.

Sensing his discomfort, Pegasus became more serious. Even without the foresight of his Millennium Eye, he could still see that the younger business man was troubled.

"Well, since you are here my dear boy, I encourage you to make yourself at home. You are welcome to stay for as long as you like – I have an excellent wine cellar."

"That won't be necessary." Seto was beginning to wonder why he had even come here.

"Well, at least spare me the honour of having dinner with me? Maybe I will even crack open a bottle of vintage Shiraz. It might get you to open up your heart to me," he teased, gesturing for Seto to follow him inside.

"Don't push your luck," Seto growled, but grudgingly followed anyway.

It suddenly occurred too him that he had never actually been inside Pegasus' home – unless you counted the duel platform and the dungeons!

He was taken into a large room that was decorated like an Edwardian reception room. Above the elaborately carved fireplace, was a large mirror, set in a polished oak frame of intricately carved roses and vines.

As Pegasus poured them each a glass of wine, Seto looked around and noticed that there were paintings of a pretty blonde woman on the other walls. He'd always thought Pegasus a fop, but had heard something about the man marrying at a young age. Seto had never met her though, because she had apparently died not long after the wedding. He had not cared enough to want to know more.

"Ah... I see you are admiring my beautiful Cecelia." His tone was light and he was smiling, but Seto could not miss the underlying sadness.

"So that's her name." Seto remarked coldly and took a sip of his wine.

Pegasus let out a sigh. "Was, her name. Why must the most beautiful, kindhearted, gentle people die so young?"

Seto wanted to ask why someone like her would want to be with someone like Pegasus, but it somehow seemed inappropriate – since when had being offensive ever bothered him? He gulped down the rest of his wine and placed the glass on the table. "I think I should leave. I don't even know why I came here."

Pegasus turned his head and smiled at him. Seto was standing on his blind side, which made the turn of his head far more exaggerated. "But we both know that you aren't going to leave, don't we?"

"Don't try my patience, Pegasus," Seto all but snarled.

Such a bitter young man, thought Pegasus. Just like he had been after Cecelia's death. He did not know why, but for some reason he cared about Seto and did not want him to end up surrounded by everything money could by, trapped in a lonely existence, full of regrets. He wanted to help him and in return, Seto might offer him some hope. "I would be overjoyed if you would join me for dinner? I have fresh sea bass, caught this morning by my own fair hand."

Seto huffed. "Well, in that case, how can I resist," he said sarcastically. But rather than turn and go as his head was telling him, he sat down in one of the comfortable leather armchairs.

Beaming, Pegasus reached forward and refilled Seto's glass.

As he did so, his hair flicked to one side, aided by a slight breeze from the open window, Seto caught sight of the small, pale pink coloured patch that was covering the missing eye. Did he ever regret digging out his own eye, for the Millennium Eye? "Did it hurt?"

Pegasus thought he was still talking about Cecelia. "It still hurts me every single day my dear Seto. I had all the money and wealth a man may possess and yet it was still not enough to save her."

"I meant your eye."

Pegasus gave an ironic snort. "Of course you did. I might have known a man such as you would have a heart of ice cold stone. You have obviously never been in love."

Seto snorted. "Love makes a man weak and easily manipulated. I do not intend to be that foolish."

"What a shame." Pegasus shook his head and poured himself some more wine. "In answer to your question, It was agony. But the agony soon passed and my wish to see her again was granted. Sadly though, it was only for a fleeting moment before the shadows took her away again. But my Millennium Eye gave me foresight, and it made me a promise: it said that if I obtained Yugi Boy's pendant, her soul would be released from the afterlife."

"You do realise that the evil spirit inside that thing was lying to you, right?"

"I know that now," said Pegasus sadly. "But since you do not know what love is, you will never understand how desperate I was. I had two agendas when I held my Duelist Kingdom tournament. One was to seize control of your company so that I could gain access to your holographic technology, and the other was to bring back her soul using the Millennium items. I intended to use your technology to create a solid hologram in her image and place her soul inside it so that we could be together for all eternity."

Seto could only think of one word to describe Pegasus' plan: Insanity. He had been prepared to steal souls and threaten lives, just to bring back a dead woman. But then it dawned on him that he had been prepared to do exactly the same to bring Atem back from the afterlife so that he could duel him.

Over dinner, both men were reflective. The sea bass was indeed good and the wine flowed. As the evening wore on, Seto found himself feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time. Their childhood experiences and upbringings had been very different, but both men understood the desire for power and and money. They had both been driven to take extreme measures in an attempt to get what they wanted and both had seen their plans thwarted by Yugi and the Pharaoh.

Now that Seto seemed a little drunk and more relaxed, Pegasus decided it was time to press for some information on his latest Duel Links technology. If there was a possibility he could create an interactive hologram of Cecelia, then it might be worth making Seto an offer.

"I heard rumours that you have been pushing the limits of your virtual reality system. Would you like to tell me about it?" He smiled, cheekily. "Or is what happened when Yugi Boy stole the show at your last tournament a big secret?"

Seto smirked. "It's no big secret. I was certain that if Yugi almost died, the Pharaoh would come out of hiding to help him defeat Diva, whom I inadvertently managed to piss off when I dug up the Puzzle pieces. Diva also pretended to be a kid called Aigami. He had a magical power that he was frightened he would lose if I brought the Pharaoh out of retirement. Of course, Yugi bringing Atem back and beating him got rid of him and his power, but not before my computers were able to upload all I needed to know in order to recreate the ability to travel through the barriers that separate our world from other worlds."

It was just as Pegasus hoped and more than he had dared dream. Seto had his full attention. "Please, tell me more? What are the possibilities? Are there side effects? Is anyone able to travel there?"

"You seem excited Pegasus?" Seto smirked.

"I am! Just think of the possibilities?" If he could convince Kaiba Boy to take him to see his beloved Cecelia, then maybe he would be able to find a way to bring her back with him, using a new, holographic body.

"I know what you're thinking Pegasus. And the answer is..." He was about to say 'no' but hesitated. So far, he had only been to Atem's afterlife, but there must be an infinite number of afterlives out there, folded within the fabric of the universe. He had explored what was just a pinprick in time and space. "It is a dangerous environment to traverse. Only the dead are supposed to enter the afterlife, and without my technology protecting me, my soul would have been torn from my body."

Pegasus gestured with his hands, dismissively. "Do you think that might bother me? Contrary my dear Kaiba. I am not afraid of death, not if it means I can be with Cecelia."

"But what if you're judged unfit for paradise?" Seto smirked. At that Pegasus' face fell.

"You mean...? You think...?" Pegasus thought about it for a moment and sighed. "Yes, you are probably right. My sins in recent years would probably be enough to send me straight to Hell. But if there is a chance I can find her, then I am prepared to try."

"Very well," Seto nodded. "I have all my equipment at my private laboratory on board my space station. We will go there first thing tomorrow morning."

Pegasus raised his glass in thanks. He could drink to that.


	2. Part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Using the cutting edge technology he stole from Diva/Aigami, Seto takes Pegasus to the afterlife where he meets Cyndia/Cecelia.  
> Will Pegasus decide to stay? Or will he be able too convince his deceased wife to return to the living world with him, so that they can be together on his island?

The following morning, Pegasus was filled with nervous anticipation. His mind had been racing all night and he had hardly slept a wink.

Some doubts about taking such a perilous journey had crept into his earlier excitement, but it was hardly enough to make him change his mind. He was tired of wasting away alone on this island when there was a slim chance he and Cecelia could be together again.

Despite the wine they had consumed last night, both men were up early and ready to face what might be a very challenging day.

"How will we be getting to your little laboratory?" Pegasus enquired, as they ate a light breakfast of croissants and lots of strong tea and coffee. Should Seto's Blue Eyes Jet be unable to seat two people, he had a helicopter tucked away in a hangar and a luxury speedboat in the boathouse down by the jetty.

"We will use my jet," Seto replied. "It will be the fastest way to get to my space station." The jet would only take fifteen minutes to fly from Pegasus' Pacific Island to the space station.

"Ooh wonderful! I have always wondered what it would be like to fly your dragon jet!" He said, in a song song voice he knew would irritate, but could not help himself.

Seto scowled at the innuendo, but refrained from saying something caustic in return. Pegasus knew that he hated camp, suggestive comments and did it deliberately just to wind him up. He would get his revenge by exerting a few more G forces than were necessary on take-off.

Luckily, Pegasus did not throw up in the cockpit and actually seemed to be enjoying the ride! Seto decided to push his limits even more, by throwing a few aerobatic rolls. But even that failed to shake his passenger up. Pegasus was obviously made of stronger stuff than Seto had thought.

As they neared the space station, Seto slowed his approach. It would have been nice to show Pegasus the space elevator, but it would be far quicker and more economical to fly the jet directly into the docking bay on the underside of the space station.

Once docked, the airtight seals were deployed so that they could disembark the jet safely.

"This way," Seto instructed, marching like the lord of all he surveyed, towards the room which housed the extreme version of his Duel Links system – one which the general public would never be allowed to use.

"Just imagine if world leaders were to get their hands on this technology?!" Pegasus gasped, realising the disaster it could bring should it fall into the hands of a maniacal dictator. Could Kaiba Boy be trusted with something that could be turned into a powerful weapon?

"I know what you're thinking Pegasus. Don't worry, I do not intend to use it as a weapon." He was not a warmonger like his stepfather. "No one but myself, Mokuba, Muto and now you Pegasus, will ever be allowed to know this exists."

"Yugi Boy knows?!"

"I trust him."

"Do you trust me?" Pegasus enquired, with a hint of cynicism.

Seto stopped dead in his tracks and Pegasus almost bumped into him. "Double cross me and you won't get your woman back."

Pegasus hesitated. "If my word is worth anything, then I promise you can trust me. I will not be the one to double cross you." And Seto believed him.

They reached a room containing pod like chairs, that were connected to a power unit and monitor, by thick, fireproof cables. Pegasus was suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Put this suit on." Seto handed him a suit that appeared to be made out of silk, but was much stronger. It also had luminous tubes of varying thickness running the length of the suit. "The space station will phase out of our world and into a place that exists between realities. From there, we will search for her and enter her afterlife." It worried Pegasus that it might be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but Seto did not seem worried.

They had to strip down to their underwear in order to fit into the figure hugging suits. Pegasus noticed that Seto's suit had thin blue panels while his suit had orange ones.

"What is this? Some sort of duel disk?" Pegasus wondered out loud, as he held up the unit he presumed fitted on his left wrist.

"It controls the life support system, which is built into your suit. It also doubles as a duel disk," Seto replied blandly, as he slid his own unit onto his arm. Pegasus followed his instructions and as soon as they were ready, they each sat inside a pod.

As Seto typed in some coordinates and the date on which Cecelia died, Pegasus felt an immense power starting to build around him. It cracked with static and he could feel his body vibrating with the electro magnetic force.

Seto's voice came through the earpiece Pegasus was wearing, loud and clear. "You will need to call out to her once we reach the void," he instructed.

Pegasus swallowed nervously. "Will you let me know when?"

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I will ever be!" The fear in his voice made Seto smirk.

Satisfied everything had powered up correctly, Seto began countdown.

The moment it hit zero, he hit the small black button, and they were sucked from their own reality and into another.

As they travelled, their bodies were split into thousands of tiny atoms. It was a peculiar experience and one that Pegasus could only liken to being sucked into a plug hole and washed through a narrow pipe – not that he ever had been – but it was how he would imagine it might feel. He wanted to scream but since his body was split into tiny particles, he had no mouth with which to do so.

And then, in a sudden flash of coloured stars, they re-materialised. They were still sat inside their pods and Pegasus wondered if they had actually gone anywhere!

"We are now inside the void," Seto spoke, making Pegasus Jump slightly. "Try focusing on her."

As he focused, Seto continued to monitor his control panel. Pegasus had no idea what was happening until they and the space station phased out again. It was a very disorientating experience.

When he was able to see properly again, he noticed that they now appeared to be hovering high above what Pegasus recognised as Cecelia's family estate.

"Brace yourself Pegasus, we're going to use the space elevator to land on the ground." When he had done this last time, he had misjudged it and been spat out a few feet off the ground and had landed face down in the desert sand in an undignified heap. He hoped that this time his guesstimate would be more accurate.

They landed heavily on the croquet lawn. Both men let out an expletive as the wind was knocked from their lungs.

"You could have warned me about the bumpy landing," Pegasus complained.

"Shut up Pegasus, I got you here, didn't I?"

Pegasus looked around in stunned belief. "It looks like the real thing!" He gasped, awed at the accuracy of what he was seeing.

"That's because it is! Every detail is made from the memories of her life and the people she knew and loved."

"But her parents aren't even dead yet! Would she have created them in her mind to exist here?"

"They won't be here. Everyone her is dead, except us," Seto explained. "Our life support will only last for around twelve hours so you should go and find her."

"Yes, of course." Pegasus gulped. How would she react to him being here?

Knowing where he would most likely find her at this time of day, he headed across the lawn and around the side of the mansion, towards the large sliding doors that looked out onto the ornamental patio garden.

As he approached, he began to hear the melodic sound of a grand piano drifting out through the open doors.

Stopping in the doorway, he watched as Cecelia sat and played. She was just as beautiful as he remembered and her playing was still as wonderful and hypnotic. Her eyes were closed as she played a romantic Rachmaninoff sonata.

It was one of his favourite pieces and Pegasus found himself rooted to the spot, unable to move for fear of startling her.

The room was just as he remembered, with its high ceiling and bright airy interior, painted a delicate shade of yellow and white.

He looked over at the high backed, winged armchairs, that were positioned in the middle of the room in a semi-circle around a circular mahogany coffee table. He remembered how he would sit and listen to her playing, often with his eyes closed, and sometimes with a sketch pad so that he could sketch either her, or any other objects that her music inspired him to draw.

She finished the piece and her eyes opened and drifted towards the doorway where he was standing. He immediately tensed when her hands flew to her mouth and she gasped. "Pegasus! What are you doing here? It isn't your time!" She feared that he might have done something terrible in order to be here.

Willing himself to move, he strode into the room. "I have found a way for us to be together!"

"But only the deceased may come here!" She was trembling as she stood to greet him. She recalled how he had once sacrificed an eye to allow a dark entity to enter his soul, in return for a few moments with her. What had he taken this time in order to come here?

She appeared nervous and he realised that he needed to reassure her that there was nothing to be afraid of. "My dear Cecelia," he said softly. "There is no dark magic involved this time. I have travelled here using the latest technology."

She looked him up and down and he realised that she was afraid of his attire. He looked down at himself and had to admit that he would probably be a little alarmed by what he was wearing as well. "What do you think? It's not my personal choice of attire, but since it is necessary for maintaining body and soul, I have no choice but to wear it."

She giggled nervously. "It makes you look like a super hero."

"I've always wanted to be a superhero, but I was always so useless at physical activity," he giggled and sighed and did a little twirl. "Ta da!"

Her heart did a little flutter. His unique sense of humour was misunderstood by many, but it was one of the things she loved about him. After all the heartbreak he had suffered, it was good to see that he was managing to keep it. "I was afraid you weren't real. But it really is you, isn't it?" She held her hand out tentatively. She wanted to touch him but was afraid the suit might harm her.

"Yes my dear. Do not look so afraid." He gently took one of her hands and caressed it softly with his lips. "I have spend every moment of my time yearning for you," he admitted, emotionally.

A small tear ran down her cheek. "I'm so sorry I had to leave you."

"It matters not! We will never be parted again." He swept her into his arms and kissed her lips with all the love and desire of a man who had been deprived of his true love for far too long.

She was still concerned about what his plans might be, but for now she put her concerns aside and melted into his embrace.

When the need for air forced them to end their kiss, they continued their embrace for several minutes.

As Pegasus breathed in the delicious, pomegranate scent of her golden blonde hair, he was afraid she might melt away and disappear before his very eye.

Speaking of his eye. Cecelia still remembered the golden light shining from where his left eye should have been. It seemed to have been the source of the power that had corrupted his soul. She could not sense any evil in him, but she needed to know if it was still there.

She pulled away slightly to look at him, and deftly pushed his curtain of hair aside, to reveal...

He tried to turn he face away in shame but she cupped his cheek in her hand and studied the small worry lines that had formed on his face.

She smiled, full of love. "I'm sorry. I needed to know."

Bringing his hand up to cover his missing eye, he gasped in astonishment when it occurred to him that his vision was not restricted. Had Kaiba programmed the system to give him a perfectly working holographic eye?! "Amazing!" He muttered. How had he not noticed already? He must have been too caught up in his desire to find Cecelia to pay any attention.

"I feared for the worst," she admitted. "When I last saw you, I thought you had sacrificed your eye in return for shadow magic. But I'm relieved; it must have been my imagination."

He blushed – an unusual sight on Pegasus.

He was too cowardly to admit the truth.

::::::::::::

Seto paced the grounds impatiently. He hated wasting his time like this, but he had made a promise and he would not hurry Pegasus. But he did wonder what the outcome of this trip would to be?

It would be quite easy for Seto to set up a portable holographic unit in Pegasus' castle. He could place beacons around the island so that a corporeal holographic Cecelia could wander anywhere she wanted around the island. Her soul could be transferred into a small chip he had brought with him and uploaded into the system in the same way his stepfather had uploaded Noah's consciousness. The only difference from Noah's storage unit, was that Seto had designed a much better one that was portable and could physically interact with the outside world.

Seto had the technology. It was up to Pegasus to convince her to return with him. The only other alternative was that Seto deactivated Pegasus' life support suit and left him here. Seto did not care one bit if Pegasus was then deemed unworthy and subsequently sent to Hell.

He rounded the corner and stumbled across an elderly couple working in a beautiful rose garden. The first thing he noticed, was how lively and active they were for such old people. He thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion, that in the afterlife there was no such thing as illness, disease or arthritis – this was paradise, after all.

The old man looked up. "Ah! Good day young man. Are you a friend come to visit my great granddaughter?"

"I'm here on business," Seto stated, rather curtly. But then he hesitated. "A favour to a friend who wished to see his lost love." He had always hated the word 'love' but for some reason, found that it rolled easily off his tongue. He hoped he was not going soft.

"Come! Would you sit with us for a moment? The old lady asked. "We have some excellent home-made lemonade." Seto noticed that she looked like an older version of Cecelia. "I am Victoria, Cecelia's grandmother," she said, as if reading his mind. She looked at him curiously. "That's strange! You're not dead."

Seto snorted and sat down in one of the garden chairs and crossed his legs, taking up his usual intimidating posture. "I am a space time traveller. I can go to any dimension I choose."

"And there I was thinking we had seen everything! Wonders never cease." When Victoria laughed, Seto found it slightly strange that she sounded much younger than she appeared.

"Relax young man. You are so tense!" The old man laughed. "There is nothing to be feared here."

Seto nearly huffed. There was if you were Seto Kaiba. He had not considered it before, but thinking about what might happen if Pegasus if his soul was left here was food for thought. And he was pretty sure that with some of the things he had done, he would be going straight into the flames – probably faster than Pegasus even!

He snorted. "I'm not sure paradise would want me."

"You have plenty of time to redeem yourself Seto Kaiba. You may have all the material things a man could desire, but you are bitter and unhappy. It is up to you to change how you view your life and others around you."

"How do you know that? You might know my name, but you know nothing about Me!"

"Everyone knows about you, Seto Kaiba. You are thought of as a cruel and spiteful man. People reach out to you but you swat them away as if they were flies. But it is not your fault you have lost your way. Do you still remember the dreams you once had as a child? Or the promises you made to your little brother?"

Seto nodded dumbly. He did remember: he had wanted to help children who had been orphaned and were unhappy. He wanted to give kids the opportunity to have better childhoods than his own. He had built one of his theme parks, but he had been far too busy obsessing over defeating the Pharaoh to continue his dreams, and had all but abandoned the promises he made to himself and Mokuba.

Seeing he was deep in thought, Victoria smiled and poured him a glass of lemonade.

::::::::::::

Pegasus and Cecelia were enjoying afternoon tea, accompanied by scones with clotted cream and jam.

They laughed and they loved like the teenage lovers they once were. But the counter on his wrist was running down far too quickly and Pegasus knew that soon they would have to make a choice.

He needed to speak to her and explain how he planned to take her home with him. But he was worried she might say no.

Cecelia could feel his growing tension. "Pegasus, what's wrong?" She unfurled herself from his arms and sat up.

He propped himself up on one elbow and sighed. "Soon my time here will come to an end and I will have to leave you." He took both of her hands in his and looked at her like he had the day he first asked her to be his girlfriend. "I need to talk to you about how we can be together."

Thinking he was going to suggest that he stay here, she gasped. "You would give your life?! But why? Life is a gift you should cherish..."

He squeezed her hands gently and shook his head. "No, no, no, nothing like that! What if I were to tell you I have found a way to take you back with me?"

For a moment her eyes sparkled with hope. So many of their dreams had been shattered when her young life was taken away after a short but cruel illness. So many ambitions had been left unfulfilled. Neither of them had been unprepared for such an untimely death, and if there was a way for her to go back and get a second chance then perhaps... No, it was not right to cheat death.

Her eyes darkened with concern. Fate had mapped her life for her and if she were to defy fate, there may be consequences. She was not angry or bitter about her own passing, but she was concerned that her husband had fallen into such a deep depression that he had chosen to clutch at desperate straws.

She also feared he might be messing with dangerous forces once again. "But it isn't possible! The souls of the dead are not supposed to linger in the living world."

"Fear not Cecelia my love. Seto Kaiba has the technology to transport your soul safely. As soon as we are home, I will create a solid hologram of you. Transmitters placed around the island will enable you to go anywhere you wish!" He sounded so hopeful and it made her chest ache, because she knew she was unable to agree with such a plan.

"But I will not actually be real."

"Yes, you will! Your soul is what makes you human. We will be together for always," he said, with so much enthusiasm, it unnerved her.

"But I will always be nothing more than a program kept inside a computer! And what if something were to happen to you? What if you were to grow tired of me?"

He looked at her in surprise. "I would never tire of you my love!"

She sighed. Once again, he was letting his heart override his common sense. He had not thought about the future at all. Did it not occur to him that she would be forced to watch him age and grow old, while she remained forever young? If he were to pass away suddenly, she would be left alone; trapped inside a virtual reality simulator, unable to return to the afterlife. Without him, she would be forgotten. It would be her prison until someone decided to delete her program. "I am so sorry Pegasus. I cannot go with you," she said, reluctantly, but firmly. "I don't want to exist as a hologram. I would be living a lie – we both would. And you will grow old while I would remain a teenager. It is not right.

"But I will program the system to age your appearance with mine! And when the time comes, I will transfer my own soul into the system and we can be together in our own world forever!"

"Please..." she pleaded. "Can you not see how wrong that is? You're being blinded by your own desperation! Human life is a small droplet in time and should be treated as if it were precious. One day, when your time is up, you will be able to join me here in paradise. This is where you, me and the rest of our loved ones all belong – not inside a computer."

"But, can't you see? There is no alternative!" He cried. "I have done such terrible things. Things you would not believe. My soul is dammed. There is no way I will be allowed to live in paradise! If I were to switch off this suit now, the Gods would surely send me to Hell."

"Oh.. Pegasus. What has happened to you?" It saddened her to think he had allowed his soul to become so corrupted. "You were such a bright young man with such a wonderful future. It breaks my heart to see you this way."

"But I don't understand," he said, in desperation. "Is my plan really that terrible?"

She nodded. "It's worse than terrible. Living inside a computer would be like existing inside a soul prison."

It suddenly dawned on him that she had just compared his idea to the Millennium items. Yugi Boy's Pendant had been a prison that housed the Pharaohs' soul. That boy Bakura also had an item that housed a soul. Even his own Millennium Eye had contained the essence of souls. They had been trapped in darkness and were all crying out for their freedom; desperate to pass over into their ideas of paradise.

He sighed. "You are right. But when I leave, I fear I will never see you again. What do I have to do to save my soul from eternal damnation?"

"All you need to do is be the good, kind man that I know you are. Be true to yourself and treat others with respect. The young man I fell in love with has lost his way and it breaks my heart to see that my passing is responsible for how broken you have become."

He gasped in horror at the thought that she might blame herself for all the wicked things he had chosen to do, just to get her back. "You must never blame yourself! I was the one to take a path that lead me to make some terrible decisions. I blame no one but myself. But I feel so lost, and I don't know how to exist without you by my side."

She smiled at him softly. "But, can you not see that I am with you?" She placed a hand over his heart. "I am always with you, in here, in your memories. I know we didn't have long together, but think of the wonderful times we did have and cherish them."

His bottom lip was trembling so he bit it lightly and lowered his gaze. He felt so ashamed. He had been so selfish. He had disregarded so many people in his quest to have his beautiful wife returned to him, without a moments thought for their safety.

Worst of all, he had disregarded what Cecelia wanted. "I am so ashamed. I was so blinded by my own pain that I lost all common sense. But I don't think I will ever be able to get over losing you, and I don't know what I can do to make it up to those I've wronged."

She was reflective for a moment, and when she spoke again it was with a purpose. "Do you remember the dreams we once had?"

He nodded. "I wanted to run an art school and you wanted to start a charity helping children who were living in poverty." He did not think he could admit to her that he had created a wonderful game called Duel Monsters, but had been obsessed with using it to take over Kaiba Corporation and steal Yugi Boy's pendent. He had not even cared about its popularity! Thinking about it now, he was lucky that he had not lost control of Industrial Illusions!

Cecelia could see the gears in his mind clicking over and felt a sense of relief that he might actually be saved. "Why don't you make our dreams a reality? Use the life you have been blessed with to bring happiness and joy to those less fortunate, and witness the good it will do. And when your time is done, I will be here waiting to welcome you."

For the first time in a very long time, Pegasus felt as if a weight was suddenly lifting from his heart. For someone so young in years, Cecelia was so full of wisdom and it made him cry.

It would still be a struggle, but with her in his heart as his guiding light, he was now ready to go back and face the world.

As they embraced, he knew this was goodbye. But that it would not be forever.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this two part story.  
> Please let me know what you think.


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